Love Flies High
by Nermanix
Summary: After years of vigilante work, Jesse McCree returns to Overwatch but the scars of the past still linger. Thankfully, McCree doesn't have to go far to find solace and Pharah finds herself reviving feelings that she didn't know existed.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Untimely Nostalgia

Light slowly seeped between the blinds, slowly grazing across his grizzled cheeks. The warmth was soothing and calming, reminding him of days long since past. His eyes slowly opened, revealing his room. The decorations are minimal but there were some trinkets scattered around the room. An American flag hung on the wall and pictures of locations that looked to be from different cities across the world. His holster was hung on a hook which his Peacekeeper was cradled within and a western styled hat propped on corner of his desk chair. Then the pain hit him like a donkey kick in the chest if his brain was in his chest. The light pierced his eyes like daggers, sending slivers of pain into his head. He quickly pulled the pillow over his head. He was incredibly hung over. After a moment and the pain had slowly subsided, a weak knocking was heard at his door.

"Jesse!? You alive in there? Winston said he saw you drinking an ass load of whiskey then singing cowboy songs till three in morning." the weak voice called from behind the door.

Jesse McCree mumbled something beneath his breath about the voice being too loud and got up from his bed. He slowly stumbled to the door and cracked it open. In front of his door stood a short Asian girl with long brown hair. She was wearing a bunny T-Shirt and denim shorts. She looked up at him and down then with a shocked face covered her eyes.

"Dude! Put some pants on!" she cried and covered her eyes.

Jesse looked down and realized he didn't have a shirt or pants on. He quickly closed the door and scrounged for his black pants and red shirt. Even though Hana was basically Jesse's kid sister, there was something to be said about decency. Once he had properly clothed himself he opened the door and the girl pulled her hands away from her face and gave him an inquisitive look.

"You look like someone hit you with a semi, Jesse" the girl prodded.

"Listen Hana, if you woke me up to give me beauty tips, best pack it in." Jesse croaked.

"Just sayin, I was wondering when you were gonna come out of your room. We're three days from a mission and you're sleeping in till noon while everyone is practicing and getting ready. Everything ok?" she questioned.

"Just...been having a lot of memories Hana, this whole recall thing hasn't been easy for me. Last time Overwatch was this active, Morrison and Gabe fucked that right up." Jesse sighed.

Hana looked at him with curious eyes then grinned.

"Well, as long as I'm here, that shit won't fly with me. We're family and family sticks together." she cheered.

Jesse cracked a grin. Hana Song, a.k.a , was a new addition to the team. She quickly found her place on the team due to her fiery personality and extreme skill with her meka. Her naivety was a breath of fresh air to the team of grizzled veterans, most of which were around during the original fall of Overwatch. Jesse remembered when he was a fresh recruit to the team. That memory had felt like a lifetime ago and yet it still felt so vivid.

"Hey" Hana said as she prodded Jesse's chest.

Jesse had completely missed that fact he had been staring out into space.

"We gonna go get food or what? Torbjorn is working on my meka and I slept through breakfast too." she admitted.

Jesse felt his stomach rumble and chuckled.

"Alright squirt, let's grab some grub, this cowboy needs some bacon and eggs." he said as he grabbed his trademark hat.

"Sounds good, Mister Sheriff" chidded Hana and made finger pistols at him.

The two walked down the hall towards the mess hall.

 _Maybe someday everything will return to normal...eventually._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The mess hall was mostly deserted besides Tracer, who gave a quick wave then continued her meal. Jesse shuffled to the food line, grabbing a handful of bacon and some eggs. The food at Watchpoint Gibraltar was decent but nothing like his homemade cooking.

 _One of these days, I should whip up some real homemade country style cookin'. Maybe some steaks and mashed potatoes._

Once he grabbed his coffee, he sat down in his usual spot in the corner with Hana. He quietly ate his food as Hana recalled her video game stories from last night.

"And that's how I pulled that game from out of my team's ass! Bunch of fucking scrubs, like I can only carry so hard. Anyways, what's up? You seem more quiet than usual."

"It's nothing, like I said, been thinkin' bout things".

"What kinda things?" Hana questioned.

"You really ain't gonna let this go huh?".

Hana grinned and shook her head from side to side.

"Fine, since you seem hell bent on knowin' i'll tell ya. Before Overwatch, I was part of the Deadlock Gang. Bunch of bad hombres they were. Well, one day Overwatch caught on to our little operation and crashed our party. I had two decisions: jail time for the rest of my life or join Overwatch. Needless to say, I choose the obvious option." Jesse said as he took a long sip of his coffee.

"Woah woah, hold on. You were in, like, a bandit gang? Like from of those cheesy western movies?" she snickered.

Jesse stop and rubbed his chin before leaning back and giving a hearty laugh.

"Ha! Yeah I guess you're right. Pretty stereotypical come to think about it".

"Did you ever get into a duel with another guy?" she asked.

"Well, come to think of it…" Jesse said as Hana sputtered and started laughing.

"Anyways, when I first joined Overwatch, I was put into the spec ops division called Blackwatch. Super secret covert stuff that shit was. That's how I learned everything I know from...Gabe. Anywho, I was the new kid in town and everyone treated me like a damned child. "Jesse stay away from that!", "Jesse, careful or you'll poke your eye out", "Jesse, don't eat that before bed". But there was someone who was always nice to me, regardless of how much of a little punk I was. Ana Amari. She treated me as if I we're her own son which was both a good and bad thing. Though she constantly nagged me, I could tell she meant well." Jesse chuckled then his eyes grew dark.

"After fuckin' Morrison and Gabe tore our family apart, Ana went underground and no one saw hide nor hair of her. Tore me and Reinhardt a new hole in our hearts. To this day I wonder if she's even still alive."

"You said Amari? I heard from Winston that she had a daughter too right?" Hana pondered.

"Yeah...Fareeha. Haven't heard anything from her either." Jesse's face grew grim.

"A...Anyways Jesse, we should probably get some practice in right? If your aim is better than mine, I'll fuckin' cry." she giggled.

Jesse's grim expression evaporated and was replaced by a playful smirk.

"Heh, alright pipsqueak, then grab some tissues cuz you're gonna need em."

They both got up and after throwing away their trash began to make their way to the outdoor shooting range. Hana continued her usual chatter as they made their way to the shooting range but Jesse was lost in thought.

 _Fareeha...that name brings back a lot of memories...hope she's doing alright..._


	2. Chapter 2: Do You Remember?

Chapter 2: Do You Remember?

Jesse didn't dream often but when he did, he wished he didn't. He felt the world falling by him and voices scream and laugh at him as he plummeted towards the darkness below. "Jesse, you couldn't save us." "Why Jesse? Why couldn't you just pull the trigger!" the voices screamed. The voices clawed at Jesse's mind and he tried to scream but nothing came out. Heat flashed through his body and his mind felt like it was being boiled from inside of his skull. Then, he felt himself stop falling. The voices ceased and a cool calmness came over him. A hand caressed his face, phantom fingers tracing his chin and skimming his jaw line. The fear, the heat, the screams, all just evaporated beneath this angel's embrace. He opened his eyes and he found himself staring at the ceiling of his room.

"Damn, for once, I get a good dream and this is all I have to greet me? A ceiling? Hell." McCree bitched.

A knock came from his door to the tune of "Shave and a haircut".

"What, Hana?" Jesse moaned.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked.

"Cause you're the only person who pesters me this early in the morning." he croaked.

"You got pants on this time?" she chirped from behind the door.

Jesse looked down and saw he was still wearing the black pants from yesterday. There was still a burn mark due to a shell casing from his revolver that landed on his thigh and nearly burned a hole through his pants.

"Eh, that should be fine" he grumbled to himself.

"Yeah, I'm decent!"

Hana slowly opened the door, hoping not to repeat yesterday's shocking experience. She was wearing basketball shorts and a pink hoodie as she stepped through the threshold of the door. Hana scanned the room, taking in the the decor and situated herself against the wall nearest to the door.

"Sooooo, you gonna get up or you gonna lounge in bed all day?" she inquired.

"Hell, don't sound too bad do it?" he said, forcing a smile.

"Jesse, are you ok? You seem depressed and I'm worried about you." Hana said concerned.

"It's-"

"Been rough, the recall ain't easy. I get it Jesse, but this isn't you." Hana said as she sat on the edge of his bed.

"Ok, no bullshit, why are you being so moody?"

Jesse took a deep breath and gave a heavy sigh then ran his finger through his hair.

"About two decades ago, Overwatch fell. Internal strife and distrust from the public lead to the downfall. Nothing like giving the world your all and two head rooster get into a cockfight, then suddenly everything you came to know is gone. Then, to top of all that, the fucking UN decides that they don't need us anymore and signed that PETRAS act. Some good honest people died in the Omnic Crisis and everything they fought for was covered up and forgotten. Well, not by me." Jesse growled.

"So yeah, guess you could say I'm a little moody because I'm back where it all happened. Don't get me wrong Hana, I'm happier than Hell on a Monday that I'm back, but it's bittersweet."

Hana sat there stunned for a moment, then snapped back to reality.

"You need some food, Sheriff?" she joked.

"I need some food." he admitted.

They both shared a small laugh before Jesse got up and threw on a brown shirt before making their way towards the smell of eggs and toast.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jesse always hated meetings. All he ever needed to know was who to shoot and why. They sat in a half circle around a podium as Winston droned on about strategies and statistics and numbers that all flew right over Jesse's head. All he knew was the mission was labeled "Operation: Dune Strike" and they were assaulting a Talon compound that was known to have a database of other Talon compounds in the region. The mission zone was located 30 miles south of Cairo, Egypt and there was no civilians in the area.

 _Open Season_

There was nothing Jesse loved more than giving Talon goons some good old-fashion justice but Jesus, Winston, do we really need to know the amount of batteries needed for this operation?

"One final thing I'd like to add before we end this meeting" Winston proclaimed.

"Due to the delicate nature of this operation and the importance of this mission, I've contacted our allies at Helix Securities. They will be providing two fireteams to assist with our ground assault. That is all for now."

Muttering came throughout the room as the other members made their way out the door to make final preparations for the attack. Jesse was followed by Hana as they walked back towards the common room.

"Nervous, Jesse?" Hana questioned.

"Heh, hard to get nervous anymore when killing people becomes routine. Though I will admit that this mission is a little more personal. What about you, Pipsqueak? Nervous for your first taste of combat?"

"No way! This isn't my first fight." Hana confirmed.

"Against Talon it is. Just remember, these aren't Omnics, these are people. Bit harder to hit than those bucket of bolts." Jesse reminded.

Hana's face grew serious for a moment then the same look of determination replaced it.

"Yeah, but if some Talon losers wanna hurt my family, then I'm gonna blast those bastards back to their edgy preteen hell." she declared.

"Good, glad to see your ready because tomorrow is gonna be as hectic as a shotgun wedding" McCree chuckled.

"How would you-" Hana started.

"Don't ask." Jesse cut her off.

"Well in that case, I think I'm gonna pass out seeing as how we have to leave by 4:00am tomorrow morning." Hana yawned.

"Why exactly do we have to leave so early?" she whined.

"Cause Winston never does anything easy." Jesse confirmed.

The two said their goodnights and went their separate ways before retiring for the evening. Jesse found sleep pretty quickly and thankfully the nightmares left him alone for this one night.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The flight to the landing zone was a smooth one. Winston and Tracer flew the plane as though they had been doing it for years, then Jesse remembered that they HAD been flying this plane for years. He found it hard to concentrate; he hadn't been to Egypt in close to 20 years. Needless to say he packed a shemagh to keep the dust out of his eyes. Hard to be a deadeye when your eyes are filled with sand.

"Hey Jesse, you mentioned that this mission became personal, why is that? Hana piped up beside him.

He had be so lost in thought that he had forgotten she had sat next to him. Jesse locked back down and continued loading his revolver.

"Well, for one: It's Talon. Bunch of terrorists that insist on spreading fear and terror. Frankly that don't sit too well with me. For another: Egypt has a soft spot in my heart. The Amari's are Egyptian and I have a mighty amount of respect for their countries determination and prowess.

Jesse looked up and surveyed the team that had assembled around them in the cargo bay. Mercy was doing a last minute checkup on Reinhardt, much to his chagrin. Winston and Tracer were in the cockpit, discussing radar and flight information. Torbjorn was making last minute calibrations to Hana's Meka and his deployable turrets. Zarya and Mei were complaining about the heat and how they wished the mission had been scheduled for a nighttime raid instead of a daytime raid.

"Jesse?" Hana squeaked.

"Yeah?"

"Do remember the first time you killed somebody?" she asked sheepishly.

 _I wish I didn't_

Jesse remembered with perfect clarity his first kill. He was still in the Deadlock Gang they were being chased through a canyon pass by a rival gang that was trying to steal their shipment of weapons that were meant for some South American warlord. Jesse had pulled his revolver from his holster and had aimed out the passenger side window at the vehicle tailing them.

"Can you hit them from there McCree?" said a Deadlock thug

Jesse said nothing as he fired.

The bullet had traveled into the brain of the driver in the vehicle behind them. The driver had watched in shock as Jesse fired, turning his brain into a pulped mess that splattered the interior of the car and sent the car careening off the side of the canyon pass into the valley below.

 _I'll never forget the face of that man. Never seen such utter terror in my life._

"Yeah, I remember. I carry that memory with me for the rest of my life." Jesse sighed.

Hana said nothing as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"Everything ok, short stuff?

"Just...scared."

"Ah, I see. Listen, the way I think about it is this. I got my family. They rely on me to protect them and same the other way around. I'll be damned if I let one of my own get hurt because of some hotshot with a pistol. So I gotta do what I gotta do to keep them safe. And if that means putting some deadbeat 6 feet under, well, i'd sooner live with that instead of losing one of my own. Does that help?" Jesse asked.

Hana loosened up a little and smiled a little.

"Yeah, guess you're right. We're family and that means we gotta protect each other."

"Atta girl! We'll be out there with you, watchin' your back. Now get some rest. We still got another 3 hours before we're in Egypt." Jesse smiled.

Hana nodded and rested her head against her seat and nodded off to sleep.

McCree finished loading his revolver and stowed it back in its holster at his hip. He leaned his head back against the headrest of his seat.

 _Is this what it's like Ana? Takin' the young underneath your wing? Cause holy hell it ain't easy. If I ever see you or Fareeha again, i'm gonna make sure to repay your kindness._

The thought of Fareeha lodged itself in his head longer than he believed it would have. Why, of all times, did he have to think about her at a time like this? He shook his head to try and dislodge the thought from his head but to no avail.

 _This is gonna be one long flight._


	3. Chapter 3: Pharaoh in a Combat Suit

Chapter 3: Pharaoh in a Combat Suit

"GET DOWN" screamed Reinhardt as gunfire ripped across the dune.

Reinhardt's shield rippled as small arms fire battered against the barrier. Tracer flashed ahead, skirmishing and distracting the Talon agents while Torbjorn's turret fired with a steady " _Chunk Chunk Chunk"_ from its vantage point. Zarya and Mei had found cover behind a collapsed column; Mei firing pot shots with her endothermic blaster. McCree and Mercy had found cover behind a broken wall a couple feet away from Zarya and Mei and Mercy was taking a roll call over the radio. The temple was a broken shell of what it once had been. The great pillars had collapsed over time and the compound had fallen into disrepair as the sands of time wormed its way through the halls.

"Alright, everyone checked in and Winston says he's on standby with the Orca for extraction." Mercy said as she pulled her hand away from the radio.

"Pays to have eyes in the sky, so what's the plan, Angel?" McCree shouted over the gunfire.

"Reinhardt! Push towards them, we'll take them down as they move from cover! Mei and Zarya, get behind the shell and keep them from getting through. , fly over to Jesse's position and give him cover fire. I'll move back to Torbjorn and stay back as medical reserves." Mercy stated through the radio.

"Hey! What about me?" barked Jesse.

"Try and flank them before the assault team gets to the checkpoint. From there we'll send you and Tracer to retrieve the data while we hold off any reinforcements." Mercy stated as she began to sprint towards the crest of the dune where Torbjorn was stationed. He heard 's mech's twin engines barreling towards him and he had to remind himself that she was a rookie when it came to Talon.

"Hey Jesse! Ready to stomp these kids?!" Hana chirped with a grin.

"Listen kid, this is serious. Just point those big guns at them and keep them pinned. I'm gonna try and get behind them."

"Got it. CC them while you flank."

"Yeah, CC and all that good stuff." Jesse said, not understanding a word the young Meka pilot said.

Hana moved her Meka around the corner and started firing. Between her and Torbjorn's turret, there was a pretty heavy field of suppressive fire. McCree moved around the side of the wall and ducked into a decrepit hallway. The rumble of gunfire was muffled by the thick brick walls. Sand from cracks in the ceiling fell as an explosion was heard behind them. Jesse winched at the sound and scanned with his revolver ahead of him.

 _Hope they're safe._

The corridor ended with a T-shape. To his left, the crackle of gunfire grew louder and Jesse knew his presence was needed there. He sprinted down the hallway, his hand clutched tightly around his Peacekeeper. As the hallway ended, his pace slowed and he threw himself against the doorframe, his Peacekeeper in his left hand. He edged around the frame to gauge the enemy forces, much to his dismay, there was a lot of them.

 _Shoulda packed more rounds_

From his angle there were at least a dozen Talon agents that were clustered around the entrance to the tomb. Most of them were carrying small arms weapons, nothing that Reinhardt's shield couldn't handle. One gunmen was yelling orders and two agents ran out of the entrance, one carrying a large cylinder around his shoulder and the other carrying a small generator.

 _What in the hell?_

Then it hit him. That cylinder was a small energy weapon and that generator was the power source. A couple of shots from that thing and Reinhardt's shield would be overloaded.

 _If I fire, I'll give away my position. But if I don't shoot, Reinhardt will lose his cover and they will get slaughtered._

"Six-Shooter to all Callsigns, disengage. The enemy has deployed an energy weapon and are planning to use it against the assault team. I repeat, disengage to a safe distance." screamed Jesse into the radio.

"This is Medvac to all Callsigns, fall back to my position and wait for further orders." Mercy called over the radio.

One by one, the teams fell back to Mercy's position until the only one left in the fire zone was McCree.

"Six-Shooter, this is Medvac. Why have you not fallen back yet, over?"

"Medvac, this is Six-Shooter, I am pinned in my position and cannot move until suppressive fire can be given."

"Copy Six-Shooter, be advised hostiles are closing in on your area and the nearest reinforcements are still another 2 minutes out, how copy, over?"

"I got nothing but time and targets, Medvac, I'll let them mop up."

"Copy that Six-Shooter. Jesse?"

"Yes, Angel?"

"Be safe, I'd rather not have you whining on my operation table again."

Jesse laughed. The situation seemed so grim and yet he found himself laughing in the face of death.

Jesse leaned out and tried to find the officer. Best to take them out first and send the rest into a panic. Jesse spied a Talon agent dressed in all black with three bars embedded on his combat jacket.

 _Bingo_

Jesse leaned out from his cover and took aim. Jesse's Peacekeeper cracked with a loud " _Bang_ " and the Talon officer's head exploded and his body collapsed into a crumbled mess next to his comrades. The rest looked over to where Jesse had been hiding and began pointing and firing. Bullets ripped through the pillars and his doorframe was riddled with lead. Jesse leaned out again and fired twice, catching one agent in the shoulder and another in the gut.

 _Three down, nine to go_

He heard screaming in Egyptian and peered out again to see the energy weapon being turned in his direction.

"Ah hell, I'd thought it'd be a fair fight" Jesse said as he aimed and shot, catching one of the crew members of the weapon with a headshot.

More gunfire peppered his cover and forced him to duck, the corner where his head was previously was now a fist-sized hole in the doorway. The agents were getting closer, their shots were more accurate and a steady staccato of hot lead poured into the walls, forcing Jesse to retreat down the halls aways. The energy weapon must've been powered up and preparing to fire because Jesse could hear a low hum and the hairs on arms were standing on end.

"Medvac, you best get me some fire support or I'm gonna be kickin the dirt, do you read!?" Jesse screamed into the radio.

"Six-Shooter, be advised that fire support is a still on its wa-"

"Medvac, I need fire support now!"

 _Ana...Fareeha…_

The footsteps grew closer and Jesse knew his time was up.

 _I'm sorry..._

Jesse took a deep breath and clicked radio on.

"Six-Shooter to all Callsigns, I've run out of time. Been a pleasure workin' with ya'll"

Jesse loaded his revolver and prepared for the inevitable. Just as Jesse was about to move from cover, a hauntingly familiar voice crackled over the radio.

"Six-Shooter, this is Callsign Pharaoh, your fire support as arrived and it's clear skies."

Jesse nearly lost his footing as explosions rocked the courtyard and the screams of dying agents battered him. He used the confusion outside to his advantage and with two quick shots the agents' blood now painted the walls with a nice crimson hue.

 _No way in high hell its her..._

Well, needless to say that small handheld rocket launchers will do incredibly massive damage the human body. Jesse had to advert his eyes for a moment to regain his composure. Once he felt comfortable enough to look around again, he took stock of the situation. All of the Talon agents that had held the choke point were now crumpled corpses. The explosions had tore through what defense they had and the energy weapon lay in pieces.

"Damn, these guys didn't stand a chance" Jesse muttered, kicking a gun away from what used to be a gunman.

He saw her. She was in the middle of three other soldiers in combat suits, their thrusters still orange hot from combat. She was unhelmeted and her hair was braided down the side of her head. The udjat was tattooed underneath her right eye, just like her mother. Her charcoaled eyes flicked over and her stern expression momentarily changed from serious to jovial.

"Jesse!" She waved at him.

 _Damn, the years have been kind to her_

"Fareeha!" Jesse called as he jogged over to her.

Fareeha barked a couple of orders to her soldiers and they moved to secure the perimeter and gave the two some room to speak.

"The years have been kind to you, Jesse" Fareeha said as she clipped her rocket launcher to her belt.

"Same to you, little Fareeha" Jesse said with a grin.

"Little? I haven't been little in a long time, cowboy." She laughed.

"Well, I haven't seen you in years!" Jesse exclaimed.

 _I...should not have said that._

Fareeha's darkened and her expression changed back to its same stern look.

"It's...been a long road. Ever since Overwatch fell and my mother disappeared I've been on my own."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Wandered a bunch, bringin' justice to those who need it."

Fareeha grinned.

"Same old Jesse, always looking to bring justice to those in trouble. Are you related to Robin Hood?"

"Heh, wouldn't surprise me. Except Robin Hood didn't have a high caliber revolver." Jesse chuckled.

The two shared a laugh and Fareeha clicked her radio back on.

"Pharaoh to Medvac, be advised, all hostiles have been neutralized and Six-Shooter had been secured. Proceed to the tomb's entrance, over."

There was a piece in Jesse that felt like a piece of a puzzle had found its place. He couldn't explain it but one thing that is for sure, having Fareeha back made everything feel a little more right.


End file.
